In January, the French animal rights organization One Voice announced on Twitter: 'We have found Dumba on a rubbish tip in the Gard. Exploited, kept in a lorry, her life is emblematic of every circus animal’s. This suffering must stop!'
LAURA SPINNEY: The Kludskys (Yvonne, her husband, George, and their son Martyn) family home is on the outskirts of Caldes de Montbui, a spa town north of Barcelona. Set amid farmland and hills, the property forms part of a secluded residential development. Until recently, they had spent at least half of the year, travelling across Europe with Dumba, performing in circuses and zoos or hiring her out for media work – including a TV ad in which she lumbered gracefully across a mattress to demonstrate the product’s durability (“A Pikolin can take anything”)…
In the early 2010s, a Spanish animal rights organisation, Faada, had begun petitioning the Spanish authorities to take Dumba away from the Kludskys, on the basis that it was cruel to keep her in such a small enclosure with no other elephants for company. In 2014, the authorities duly inspected the property and recommended some improvements. The Kludskys, they said, should provide Dumba with shelter and a pond to bathe in, as well as more “environmental enrichment” – or psychological stimulation.
Faada staff and volunteers continued to photograph and film Dumba from the Kludskys’ perimeter fence. There were further inspections culminating in a visit in July 2018, again commissioned by the authorities, of a team of experts in elephant welfare. They reported that, although Dumba now had a tent, her outdoor enclosure was too small, her shade was inadequate and she still had no bathing pool…
But the authorities took no action, and the Kludskys continued to tour in Spain and France, where circuses that feature animal acts can still draw a crowd. Kruse sometimes dressed up in sparkling gowns and turbans, and Dumba wore matching bracelets. At shows, the elephant, who weighs three and a half tonnes, would kneel on command and stand on her hind legs. She twirled her trunk and drop-kicked balls for treats, then posed for photos at €10 a go…
In recent years, circus families like the Kludskys have come under increasing pressure as public opinion has turned against the use of wild animals for entertainment. Today, many circus elephants in Europe are reaching old age. Campaigners want them placed in specially built sanctuaries, where they can enjoy retirement with their own kind. But their owners insist that for the elephants, being separated from their human “families” would be traumatic. The Kludskys and their supporters feel they are accused of cruelty by people who know nothing about the lifelong bond between elephants and their trainers, or the elephant’s pleasure in learning new tricks. The two sides are implacably opposed…
One day in late September 2020, the Kludsky family… led their elephant up a ramp into the 10-metre trailer that constituted her second home. Dumba went willingly, as always; it was her owners who dragged their feet. The family had spent much of their lives on the road, but this time they did not know how long they would be gone, or if they would ever return… When Faada campaigners learned what had happened, they were furious. On 27 September, the group lambasted the Spanish authorities on Twitter for their inertia.
In failing to confiscate the elephant, they argued, the authorities had forfeited Dumba’s last chance to see out her final years in peace and comfort. Míriam Martínez, the head of Faada’s wild animal division, was upset that the Kludskys had given them the slip. “We did not want that to happen,” she said, gravely. But she knew the elephant couldn’t stay hidden for long…
On 18 January, One Voice, a French organisation that works with Faada, announced to their followers on Twitter: “We have found Dumba on a rubbish tip in the Gard. Exploited, kept in a lorry, her life is emblematic of every circus animal’s … this suffering must stop!” The organisation filed a complaint to the public prosecutor in the nearby town of Alès, citing animal mistreatment. Having ordered a veterinary inspection, the prosecutor declared himself satisfied that the elephant was well cared for, but he didn’t publish the vet’s report – and despite pressure from One Voice, he still hasn’t.
Frustrated by the prosecutor’s failure to act, One Voice commissioned other vets to examine video footage of Dumba. The vets had some concerns about her health: she was too thin, had dry, scurfy skin and was probably suffering from joint pain, they said. The pop star Cher, who co-founded the animal welfare charity Free the Wild, wrote to the French minister Barbara Pompili, who was deliberating on whether to ban wild animals in circuses, asking her to end Dumba’s “daily torment”. Pompili replied, expressing noncommittal sympathy (“a judicial inquiry is under way”)…
‘Where is Dumba now?” pleaded a One Voice supporter on Twitter on 21 March. “Is there any way to know if she is safe?” It was a month since the Kludskys had left Euzet. It wasn’t just animal rights activists who wanted to know where the Kludskys and Dumba had gone. So, too, did the couple behind a new elephant sanctuary in south-west France…
On the first weekend in April, news broke that Dumba had resurfaced in Germany. After the Kludskys left Euzet… One Voice had dispatched investigators to tail their vehicle. “We had lost Dumba once, it was out of the question that we should lose her again” … On 2 April, they announced the elephant’s new whereabouts: the Kludskys had left Dumba in a wildlife park between Berlin and Hamburg. The photo the organisation released seemed to show Dumba in a bare prison cell – though the bars containing her were those of an elephant fence, the likes of which the Spanish authorities had demanded the Kludskys install in Caldes…
Today, Dumba’s new home, the Elefantenhof Platschow, is run by Sonni Frankello, scion of a German circus dynasty. Comprising an old farm with stables, barns and green space, it hosts a range of animals including a dozen elephants, which occupy three of its seven hectares. The public pays to see, feed and ride the elephants, and though the animals don’t tour, they do perform and they can be hired out for events. The Kludskys stayed with Frankello’s family for 10 days in late February – “to see that the transition went smoothly”, Kruse said – then returned home to Spain to allow Dumba to complete her integration…
Neither Kruse nor Frankello would say if Frankello had paid for Dumba, but Kruse said the move was permanent – that they had done what they thought was best for Dumba, in the circumstances… When he felt she was ready, Frankello planned to resume teaching Dumba to perform tricks, adapting to her age and aptitudes. “I know she is good at football,” he said. “She is also very good with her trunk, so perhaps I’ll teach her to do jigsaw puzzles”…
One Voice is keeping up its campaign for Kruse to be prosecuted for mistreatment. They are still trying to persuade the Alès prosecutor to publish the report of the vet who inspected Dumba in Euzet, so that they can use it to support the lawsuit. While Dumba continues to suffer, Arnal told me, they won’t give up. SOURCE…
RELATED VIDEOS: